Do Board Characteristics Matter for Growth Firms? Evidence from China

Qiuwei Li, Wei Zhou, Hui Zhou and Jiaxuan Chen
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Qiuwei Li: School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Wei Zhou: School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Hui Zhou: Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Jiaxuan Chen: Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

JRFM, 2021, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-9

Abstract: Previous research on the effect of board characteristics mostly examines established firms. This raises the question of whether the findings from the board characteristics literature are applicable to rapidly growing enterprises, as their corporate governance landscape can be very different from that in large, mature companies. Our paper extends the corporate governance literature by investigating the performance implications of board characteristics in startups using a unique set of firms: 121 startups operating in the information technology industry listed on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) in China. Using a firm performance indicator constructed through the factor analysis method, we find significant correlations between firm performance and board size, age structure, board meeting frequency, and board ownership of shares. Our findings contribute to the corporate governance literature by shedding new light on the performance implications of board characteristics for startups operating in fast-paced industries.

Keywords: corporate governance; board for startups; emerging markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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